That September Day
by Sgt.Pepperony
Summary: It was one September morning that changed the course of the world. On 11th September 2001, Tony Stark woke to chaos and phone calls. On 11th September 2001, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff witness the events on a television screen. On 30th April 2012, Steve Rogers realises how much the world has changed since 1945. T for mentions of 9/11, mild language, and portrayals of PTSD. *Complete*
1. Los Angles, 11th September 2001

**Title:** That September Day  
 **Author:** Sgt. Pepperony  
 **Fandom:** Avengers (MCU)  
 **Rating:** T/M for mentions of 9/11 during and after the event, mild language and portrayals of post-traumatic stress.  
 **Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the MCU characters. Song from 'Empty Souls' by The Manic Street Preachers.

 **So, this year marks the 15th anniversary of the attacks that occurred on 11th September 2001 and I was curious as to the response by characters like Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Steve, Wanda and Pietro, especially since Afghanistan played a vital part in Iron Man, the trauma inflicted on Wanda and Pietro due to almost dying in similar circumstances, and Steve's identity as an American icon.**

* * *

 _Exposed to a truth we don't know.  
Collapsing like the Twin Tower,  
Falling down like April showers._

Los Angles, 11th September 2001

 _05:50_

"Tony! Tony! Wake up," Pepper pleaded as she tried to wake Tony, who had yet to wake as he had spent the previous night drinking and gambling in the local casino. "Please!"

Tony grumbled as his eyes tried to adjust to the light and he could tell that something was genuinely wrong when he saw Pepper's face filled with shock and panic. "Pepper, what's going on?"

Pepper grabbed the remote and switched on the television, going straight to CNN news where the headline banner read 'BREAKING NEWS' and the image of the North Tower of the World Trade Centre engulfed in smoke. The news anchor was explaining that only five minutes earlier a commercial airline had flew straight into the building.

The only words that Tony could express was, "Holy shit."

"That was my reaction," Pepper replied. "You think this was an accident?"

"I need to call Rhodey." Tony immediately ran to his office, followed swiftly by Pepper and asked JARVIS to call Rhodey, who was in The Pentagon. The phone was picked up on the first ring. "Hey, what the hell is going on, I just saw the news?"

 _"Okay, between you and me, there have been some reported hijackings on commercial planes."_

"Planes. As in more than one?"

 _"Listen, we don't know the full situation yet, but I suspect it's going to be bad."_

"I think you're underestimating here Rhodes. Just keep me updated. I think I am going to get a lot of calls today."

Tony hung up the phone and rubbed his hands over his face.

"You think this is just the start?" Pepper asked, her voice filled with dread.

"I think this is going to be the start of something bigger than just today Pep."

-o-

 _06:02_

"Do we even know who could be behind this yet?" Tony asked down the phone to someone in the White House. "Where is the President?"

 _"He's in Florida Mr Stark."_

"Right, well as soon as he gets back, can you get him to call me personally. If this is where I think it's going, the army is going to need more weapons." Tony just glanced at the screen for just one moment and the whole room when silent, save for Pepper dropping her coffee mug on the floor. "Okay, did you just see what I just saw? Get me the Secretary of Defence."

-o-

 _06:35_

"This is definitely not an accident," Pepper finally said. The shock of seeing the second plane go into the South Tower had rendered her speechless while Tony was trying to deal with multiple calls from various generals and military officials. JARVIS had been doing his best to handle the priority of each call but given the amount it was becoming far too overwhelming.

"Pepper, call Rhodey, see if he has any new information," Tony ordered.

Pepper nodded and immediately dialled Rhodey's number. Again he answered on the first ring, "James, it's Pepper. Tony wants to know if there is anything new."

 _"I don't know Pep, everything just seems so jumbled and confused at the moment. Apparently up in Rome, New York, they were expecting a training exercise and thought this was it. Clearly it isn't anymore. It definitely looks as though we are under attack. All I know is that the President is bound for Air Force One."_

"Have all the flights been forced to land?"

 _"I haven't heard anything but I will keep you posted."_

At that point there was a loud bang coming from Rhodey's end of the phone and Pepper could hear the phone drop. "James? What was that?"

 _"God I hope it's not what I think it is."_

-o-

 _07:00_

"James is okay. He wasn't in the part of the building that the plane hit," Pepper told Tony who was staring in horror at the television screen. "What's happened now?"

"The South Tower just collapsed."

Pepper put her hand over her mouth. The amount of dust and smoke that filled the screen looked like an apocalypse had just descended over Manhattan. "This is not going to end is it?"

"This is just the beginning Pepper. This just does not end today."

"You think this is going to start a war?"

"War. Maybe wars. I can imagine Stane is happy that we might be getting profits out of this."

"Tony, that's cynical even for you."

"Pep, look at the screen. I am not the only one who is going to see this as a golden opportunity for money."

"Why would someone do this?"

"I don't know. I don't think we're going to get all the answers to this Pep."


	2. Novi Grad, 11th September 2001

Novi Grad, 11th September 2001

 _14:59_

Ten-year-old Pietro handed a slice of bread to his twin sister Wanda and she stuffed it into her mouth. Wanda usually hated bread but considering how hungry she was feeling, she would have eaten cardboard if it sated the feeling in her stomach. Pietro took a bite of his ration, only for him to be distracted by a gathering of people outside the electronics store. There were various televisions on display, all with the same image, and Pietro could just see an image of a building with smoke pouring out the top.

"What's up?" Wanda asked.

"People are watching all those televisions," he answered. "Let's have a look. It looks interesting."

Wanda followed her brother to the store and they pushed through the rabble of people and they were confronted with an image of a tower burning with the headline banner saying in Sokovian 'NEW YORK PLANE CRASH'.

"That's the World Trade Centre," a woman whispered.

"Bit of a coincidence that the plane crashed into that," a man replied.

The man would soon eat his words as a ball of flames appeared on the screen and Wanda felt her throat close up. Even though she was thousands of miles away from New York, she felt the impact. She knew only too well what it felt like to be blown back by an explosion. She knew what it was like to be unable to breathe. She knew what it was like to be trapped in a building that was coming down.

Pietro immediately noticed Wanda trembling and knew what was about to happen. He had seen it so many times in the last couple of months. The first time was when they were trapped under the rubble. The stress and fear of the missile blowing up had caused Wanda to suffer a panic attack. Now seeing a plane go into a tower had triggered the latest in a long line.

"Wanda," he whispered as he tried to move her away from the crowd. He finds an open spot in the middle of the concourse and puts his hands on her shoulders. "It's okay. You're safe."

Wanda's face is red and damp with tears. Pietro's voice was distorted, her head felt dizzy and she felt as though she was going to throw up. She hated feeling like this. She had not slept in weeks, the mere sound of a bang set off her panic attacks and she could never get the image of the shell out of her mind. The metal that was painted white, with the Stark Industries logo plastered in black along the length of the shell. The thing that she waited two whole days to kill her, not able to move, not able to breathe, or yell or scream. It was her own personal hell.

"It's okay. Wanda's I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

A woman walked over to them, with an empty paper bag and tells Wanda to breathe slowly into it. Eventually, Wanda's breaths even out. Pietro takes her to a bench and the woman hands a bottle of water to Wanda. "It's okay dear. New York is so far away."

-o-

 _20:12_

It was five hours later that Pietro and Wanda settled in the homeless shelter for the night. The television in the main room was showing the rolling news of New York. The burning buildings were no longer there, just dust and smoke filling the screen. As the news anchor recounts the news, they show footage of the collapsing building. Pietro quickly pulls Wanda away before she has another panic attack.

Even then, neither can sleep. It had only been a few months since they were trapped under the rubble of their own apartment block, but Wanda could feel the heat on her skin, the smoke in her lungs and her heart beating so hard it could have burst through her chest.

"Do you think it was the same people?" she asked.

"Of course not," Pietro answered. "Sleep now. Tomorrow will be a new day. It will be new news."

Once he is sure Wanda is sleeping, Pietro climbed out of bed and goes to the main room to watch the news footage. The rolling footage cuts to a conference of some sort, and finally Pietro had received a face to the Stark Industries name as Tony Stark details his plans to support the US army for whatever needs it requires.

Pietro was never a cynic until the death of his parents, but he could not believe that Stark Industries was going to profit from this. Stark had already profited from the death of his parents and many others, but this was a deplorable act for monetary gain.

He may have been only ten years old, but Pietro thought he knew the world he lived in, and knew that something in the world had changed.


	3. New York, 30th April 2012

New York, 30th April 2012

It had barely been a week for Steve since he had awoken from the ice, not only in a new decade, but an entirely new century. New York had changed so much. In Downtown Manhattan, he looked at the latest skyscraper being built. They had described this building as the tallest in the US. It was amusing to him somewhat. He remembered when they were constructing the Empire State Building back in the 1920s and they were buzzing about that was going to be the top of the world.

Yet there was something that seemed very different in Manhattan. As well as the new skyscraper, there was a museum being built. Not just a regular museum, but a memorial museum, and it was near a memorial of two large pools with names engraved in the metal surrounding the water. The sign around the safety bars read '9/11 Memorial Museum'.

He had only been awake for a few days and had barely been filled on what had happened in the last seventy years. He was not sure what 9/11 was, or what had happened on 11th September to make the date so significant.

"I was never sure about this," a man beside him said. "Seems strange how the worst day in American history is being turned into a tourist exhibit."

"What happened?" Steve asked.

The man looked at Steve like he could not believe the words that had been released from his mouth. "You been under a rock or something?"

"You could say that."

"It was a normal day. 11th September 2001. Terrorists hijack four planes. Two crash into the World Trade Centre. One the Pentagon. The last a field in Pennsylvania. Nearly three thousand people died. Innocent people. Good people. Just going about their daily business or going on a trip. The people who did it claimed they did it for Allah, but speaking as a Muslim myself, it was never for Allah. It was a distorted view. A twisted view filled with hatred."

Steve was lost for words. He had thought Pearl Harbour had been the disaster that could never be topped. How he was wrong.

"Did anyone you know die?"

"I worked in the North Tower on the 101st floor. I was running late for work. If I was there just ten minutes earlier, I would not be here. My friends and colleagues were trapped."

"I'm sorry."

"I have spent the last ten years filled with mourning and guilt. Sometimes you have to take time to be grateful you are alive."

"How do you do it?"

"I have a daughter. I have to teach her love and respect for all, regardless of their religion. I have to teach her to be a good person."

Steve nodded. "I've lost people. Friends and colleagues. Not in the same circumstances, but I know how you feel. I know what it is like to have the world as you know it ripped from you."

The End


End file.
